Shattered Mirrors --TMNT
by Mica
Summary: What happens in the future? who can tell? After the fates take thier brother, the ninja turtles are left to peice together what happened in the last months of his life... -- IN PROGRESS
1. and then there were three'

# Shattered Mirrors

## Chapter 1

### "And then there were 3"

* * *

I lay there, my breathing shallow... scratchy... harsh. My vision blurred. I heard a girl scream.  
"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!" she screamed, "You _killed_ him! MURDERER!"  
"Murderer?" I heard the calm voice of the man who had shot me reply, "No dear, I am not a murderer. You cannot murder something that is not human. This _animal_ was killing humans. It was not murder, it was extermination."  
His words washed over me, not really connecting with meanings. Just words, babble, background static...  
"I HATE YOU I HATE YOU I HATE YOU!!!" the girl's voice screamed. I heard a door slam, pounding footsteps, then the heavy male footsteps following her.  
I tried to get up, to move, to get away... to get _help_, but I couldn't. Sorrow came to me and tears poured out of my eyes, soaking my mask and mixing with my blood on the dirty floor.  
The last of my strength left me, and my trembling supporting arm dropped me the short distance to the ground with a squishy thud. My vision left me in a flash of final red, and I saw nothing but black.  
My headache grew worse and interfered with my thinking. It was getting hard to think... blurry... fragmented. I had one last coherent thought, a scream even, before I slipped, fading into the oblivion beyond. _'And then there were three...'_  
  


***

  
  
_[Three Years Later]_  
  
_'Death... Death has come to Sunnydale farm...'_ The old line from a song entered her head and stayed there.  
It had been three years, she was _supposed_ to be over this! Why the hell was it coming back NOW?! Hadn't those trips to the psychologist helped at ALL? _'No.'_ she decided, _'Not at all.'_ Damn bastard. Sit there in his chair. What the hell did HE know about death? Sitting all posh in his flamboyant, oak-paneled office. Death had no place in the lives of clean, well-mannered, suburban businessmen like him. All she did was tell him the words that he wanted to know. She had told him what he wanted to hear. Now she was supposedly better.  
Better. Now that was a laugh. She wasn't better. She had just learned to play the game. Speak the words, let the social workers pull her strings. That's what she felt like. A dead marionette, no life of her own, no emotions. Sunk deep into a cavernous hole of depression. Sucked far down and never wanting to leave.  
Abigail flopped down on the bed. It complained under her weight with a moaning creak. She growled and smashed her fist into the wall, balling up her frustration.  
She grumbled and squinted as plaster and dust fell onto her face, making her want to sneeze. She suppressed the urge and it went away. _'If only all my urges went away so easily.'_ Abby's thoughts snarled to her.  
An image, an odd, stunned face, flashed in front of her and she shut her eyes tightly. Still she saw it. She shut her eyes tighter, her head starting to throb with anxiety. She wanted to scream out, but she knew that would just attract attention. Attention was not what she needed right now. She hated it when _they_ came. She hated the touching. All their hands so dirty.  
Abigail bit her lip as her mind was flooded with images and memories. He had seemed so harmless. It just all got too much.  
"Why?" she whispered to herself. She had asked herself that one question time and time again, and she knew there was no adequate answer. She knew she was guilty. She knew there was only one distraction for her now.  
She opened her bedside dresser drawer and took out a small penknife. She selected a small raised scar on the back of her hand and started lightly scratching at it with the knife. She watched as the light reddish lines appeared and disappeared as she felt the tingles of pain travel up her arm.  
She wondered for a moment if she would ever stop doing this. _'No.'_ she decided. Not until they let her admit what she had done and get proper punishment. Not until he stopped coming up in her mind. Until then, she would live with the pain.  
That twisted face of utter confusion and pain flashed up upon her inner eye again. She screwed her face into a grimace and cut her hand deep on the old wound, her face contorting with the pain as the thoughts of him fled her mind and the distracting pain filled it.  
  


***

  
  
Donatello's eyes watered as he dug around in the garbage to find the entrance to the old sewer lair. The smell in the sewers was putrid, especially after living out at the farmhouse in the clean country air for so long.  
A cleaner scent came up from the old lair as Donatello opened the entrance and climbed down the ladder, re-concealing the passageway as he went. As he reached the lair he expected to see or hear Leonardo, for he still lived there. Yet, he heard nothing except a light hum that Don put down to the cars far overhead and the normal sounds of the sewer.  
_'Heh.'_ Don thought, _'Still the diligent ninja, as always, ey Leo?'_ He allowed his eyes to scan the old lair, amazed at the changes Leo had made. Gone was the bright clutter that had occupied the lair when the six of them had lived there. In its place was a neat, tidy environment.  
Kanji scrolls hung on the walls, and the bare floor had nothing but a few battered tatami mats strewn here and there. Somehow, Leo had managed to _move_ the old subway cars that they had used for rooms. They were pulled to the far sides of the track, tucked away neatly into the shadows of the station turned lair, and apparently used for storage.  
As Donatello looked around the clean, simplistic lair, he noticed a ring of light coming from where his lab used to be. Then he heard the sound of typing.  
_'Huh?'_ Don thought, _'Couldn't be Leo in there. Who else is in this lair?'_ Donatello desperately wished for his bo, but alas he didn't have it with him. Grabbing a nearby broom, Don made do with what he found.  
He threw open the door to his lab, hoping to use the element of surprise to his advantage. Donatello stopped and blinked in confusion and wonder at the scene within. Leonardo sat with his back facing the door, typing away on the keyboard.  
"Leo??"  
His brother turned to face him, revealing a maggot-eaten face, piercing red pupils glowed within the empty eye sockets. "Why didn't you stop me?" the pseudo-Leo hissed.  
"NNNOOOOOOO!!!" Donatello sat straight up in bed, sweat-soaked, his heart racing. He began to sob. He hated the nightmares. As he calmed down a little, anxiety started to eek into the corners of his mind. He knew he would get no more sleep this night.  
Don turned on the small lamp that sat next to the mattress he slept on. He looked around the empty lair, trying to calm his racing mind, fighting off the overwhelming feelings of anxiety and fear he felt. He sighed deeply, still breathing shakily, and picked up the notebook and pencil that lay near the mattress.  
Organizing his scattered thoughts, he put the pencil to paper and let the thoughts flow out of him, forming into solid paragraphs of his strong handwriting.  


> I guess we have lost. There is nothing left here. I'm beginning to wonder if there was ever anything there to begin with. However, I digress, and to digress is to confuse.  
I guess to tell my story, I should start at the beginning. My name is Donatello. I am a mutant. A mutant turtle. One of four originally... well, actually one of five. We, along with our sensei, Splinter, lived in the sewers. Eventually we met up with the fifth turtle of our group, Meih Pei Chi.  
We fought together for many years. Many villains fell to our hands. Together we were an unstoppable force. Unfortunately, our keystone was beginning to weaken. _Splinter._ We all knew it was coming. It was inevitable. Yet, his death still hit us hard. We fell apart.  
Without Splinter to guide us and hold us together, we all started drifting. Raphael was the first to leave. We still don't know where he is, or if he's even alive. He just left. One morning soon after Splinter's burial, he just disappeared. A note was left that said he was leaving. He said that he would be fine. He said not to worry about him. I didn't. I knew Raph could take care of himself.  
Poor Michealangelo, he couldn't help but worry. The loss of his sensei and then the disappearance of his best friend and brother nearly broke the poor guy. Emotionally, he collapsed into the nearest, sturdiest "arms" he could find. Venus. Those two were the next to leave. I don't know exactly where they went then, but they ended up in China. I don't know if they are still there. I haven't heard from either in a few years.  
Leo stayed here, in the sewer lair. He still refused to give up his old ways of protecting and defending the city.  
I was the last to drift away. I went to April's farmhouse. I really liked the countryside. It was so quiet and peaceful. Nobody to annoy me while I was working, no villains to attack me or harass me. It was easy to concentrate on my inventions and gadgets. My computer kept me connected to the outside world that I wanted to connect to. I even started getting people to buy my designs and manufacture some of my devices. My favorite was the pocket reader. It digitally scanned in words when you ran it over them then said them aloud. It was a great improvement for people with visual impairments.  
For a while, life was good for me. I was getting the money from my inventions, and I was almost distracted enough to forget about the problems with my brothers... almost.  
I came back to the lair because I was in New York to deliver some new prototypes for my inventions. I wanted to pick up some of the equipment I had left here. I found Leo here, and I was surprised to find the he had been using my computer here to go online and he had started chatting online somewhat. He seemed a lot mellower.  
It was eerily odd, but I let it go to the fact that Raph and Mike weren't around to do things to make him get so uptight. I took my leave of him after spending about a week in the lair. Little did I know that would be the last time I would see him alive.  
About a month after I visited the lair, Leo died. My whole memory of the experience is a confusing blur of emotions, starting with a mental cry of _'And then there were three'_. I remember recovering Leonardo's body from a warehouse down by the shore. He had been shot several times. He was dead...  
I took his body to the nearest place I could find in a confused stupor. The lair. I got there and the phone rang. I answered it, probably sounding like a drunken wreck, my emotions were so high. It was Michealangelo, and he didn't sound much better than me.  
I remember his exact words. Words that still chill me. "He's dead, isn't he Donnie? Leo's dead." He said it with a shaking, fearfilled voice. I swallowed and told him what I knew. We cried.  
That was the last time I talked with Mike. I haven't heard from him since. I just knew that he was in China with Venus at the time.  
I took Leo's body and cremated it out at April's Farm. Shadow and Casey both showed up for the scattering of the ashes. We scattered them near the cliff where Splinter was buried. I could tell it was hard for Shadow and Casey. April had passed away only about a year earlier.  
I stayed on the farm for a while, but something just kept pulling me back to the lair. It seemed the farm only had death surrounding it. I wanted to go to a place that had happier memories. That's when I moved back to the lair.  
I started up again with my ninja exercises when I moved back here. I had dropped out of practice when Splinter had died. It had been too painful and I didn't see the point anymore. Yet, when Leo died, I felt the opposite. Practicing brings back fond memories, and I feel I must continue the legacy, to honor the memory of both of them.  
It's odd. Next week will mark three full years since his death. Leo's that is. I still feel like it just happened yesterday. I have no desire to go back to the farm, but I know I will. Something always draws me there around this time of year. I guess it's just my sentimental side.

  


Donatello sat back and rubbed his eyes, glancing at the clock. He noticed it was almost 5:30. The sun would be coming up soon. He might as well go see the sunrise. Don set the notebook back by the mattress.  
Don bound his forearms and calves with the gray binding cloth before slipping on his brown leather kneepads, armpads and belt. Don sighed as he picked up the red mask. After Leo's death, Donnie had gone back to wearing the simple red mask and leather pads rather than the purple adornments he had fashioned for himself to wear before. A small tribute to Splinter, he supposed, and a bittersweet wish to return to the simplicity that was there when he first wore these.  
Don picked up his Bo and the thick purple cloak from their places by the entrance to the lair. He turned out the lights, then headed up and out.  
  


***

  
  
Two silent figures walked through the sewer pipe. The larger one grabbed the smaller one and pulled her into his arms and into a crevice in the wall. They stayed still and silent, and soon Donatello passed by wearing his cloak. The larger figure watched him intently as he passed, trying to shake the feeling of recognition.  
Finally, when he thought the coast was clear, the larger figure released his hold on the smaller one. "Let's go." he whispered quietly and he led her towards the lair. Digging in the rubbish used to conceal the entrance, he found the ring and pulled up the door. The smaller figure went down first, then the larger one followed her, concealing the entrance behind him.  
He was surprised to feel the plush carpeting below his feet, but something told them this was the right place. Maybe it was the smell. The larger one felt along the wall for the large circuit breaker, and found in its place many light switches. He turned them on. He squinted in the sudden brightness, the light revealing his reptilian features. A smile spread across his face and he looked at the other figure, she pulled back her teal hood, revealing her aged, also strange appearance.  
"We're here, Venus." Mike said, "I'm home." A small smile came onto his face.  
"and just in time," Venus smiled, unwrapping the large bundle she held "He's getting feisty." She pulled back the blanket and a little three-fingered hand reached out and grasped at her face, catching ahold of her eyemask.  
Mike's small smile grew wide as he looked at her and the little one. So much had been lost here, but in coming back, he had gained.  
  


***

  
  
High up on the rooftop, a silent figure practices a subtle dance, thrusting his body into sharp contortions, only to flex back like a ribbon. Any onlookers chancing to see this marvel would feel privileged because of the beauty held in these deadly moves.  
The dim orange light began to peek its rounded bright head over the skyline of the busy metropolis. Donatello paused in his actions to watch the beauteous rays of light cut through the smog to grace the city. Even the scum and filth of the place looked marvelous this morning.  
It had snowed last night, and it had a clean look, a new feeling. Don knew that what little spots of white that were left would be gone by nightfall, consumed by the filth of the city, but the diamond gems among the rooftops made the place look almost godlike.  
Donnie sighed happily and leaned against his bo. Soon the blissfulness was cut by the quiet sounds of someone entering the rooftop. Sensing them coming, Don grabbed up his cloak off the roof, and jumped to the fire escape, the cloth fluttering behind him. He took one final look up at the smoggy, yet beautiful landscape, then he wrapped his cloak about him and started down to the streets, and eventually, to the sewers.  
As Don entered the depths of the sewers, he wondered why the world seemed so wondrous in the morning light. He, as well as anyone, knew the evils of this city. Yet, he was suckered in by the sight of the patches of diamond clean snow around the city. _'Prolly just me being sentimental again.'_ Don thought to himself as he neared the lair.  
He felt a presence... someone was near the lair... Don went into stealth mode, melting into the shadows with ninja sleekness. _'Who..?'_ Don mouthed the silent question. For some reason he couldn't shake the feeling of familiarity.  
Donatello examined the entrance to the lair, and with a terrifying shock he realized that the person, whomever they were, was in, or had been in the lair itself.  
Drawing his bo, Don entered the lair stealthily. Noting the lights were on, he spied around the corner to see who dared to invade the sanctity of his home. His eyes widened at the sight within. The back of a green head... and yet, Don knew who he was. Damn, like he could EVER forget.  
Don paused for a second, gathering himself, half torn between wanting to kill Michaelangelo for scaring him so and just wanting to hug him anyway. "M-Mikey?" he finally managed to stutter out.  
Mike spun around, 'chucks out of the folds of his cloak and at the ready in an instant. But all hostility fell when he saw the speaker of the words. "Donnie!" Mike dropped the nunchuku and ran to grab Donatello in an embrace. He was practically sobbing in happiness.  
Tears of joy slipped down his cheeks as Don returned the embrace emotionally. After a few moments, Don pulled out of the hug and held Mike at arms length to look at him. Although the spark of mischief and spryness was still about him, Don could see he had aged. Fine lines ringed his familiar eyes. A smile still sat on his features though. "Oh god, I missed ya Don." he said.  
"Me too, Mikey." Don replied, "It's _great_ to see you again." He then looked at Venus and the bundle she held as if he was seeing them for the first time. "Mike? Who's this?"  
Venus chuckled a little. "Oh c'mon, I don't look THAT different, Donatello."  
"Meih Pei Chi???" Donatello asked, astonished.  
"One in the same Don." she smiled. Don was very surprised. She looked so different. He remembered Venus as a little wisp of a thing, with an indignant look in her eyes and sharp, well-defined features, in both her body and face. This Meih Pei Chi that stood before him was nothing like that. Pleasantly plump, she had gentle curves that flowed harmoniously throughout her body. Her eyes were warm and kind, and her smile bore a twinkle of youth and mischief.  
_'Wow.'_ was all Donatello's stunned mind could think. Then his eyes chanced upon the bundle in her arms. "What's that?" he asked.  
"You mean who, Donnie." Mike answered him. Donatello looked closer at the bundle and was treated to a sight he never thought he'd see. Large, clear, amber colored eyes looked at him from within the blankets.  
"Hi!" the little turtle chirped.  
"This is Tyler, Don." Venus said, "He's Mike's and my son."  
"Wow." Don said, "Congrats! How old is he?"  
"He'll be a year old next week." Venus answered.  
Don invited them all to sit down. He himself sat backwards on one of the kitchen chairs. He crossed his arms over the back of it and looked at them, still trying to grasp the situation. "So..." he began "What are you doing in New York?"  
  


***

  
  
A cloaked figure is silhouetted in the rising sun against a cold plain of white. Flutters of fabric swathed about him obscure his features. He disappeared into the treeline as the sliver of gold-orange stains the sky it's beautiful hues.  
Taking back his patched hood, a mud streaked, oddly shaped face is uncovered. From his pack he pulled a piece of flint and some dry wood. Carefully clearing a place within the shelter of the windbreak, he lit a small fire and pulled a piece of wild game out, a raccoon or beaver perhaps. He erected a small spit and began cooking the meat on it.  
He took off the shabby mittens and revealed his odd, three fingered hands. Leathery tough green skin covered the palms. He warmed his hands over the small fire. Then he gathered up pine needles into a small bed in the only rays of light coming through the trees.  
A bit of light chanced upon his face, revealing deep scars on it. One of his eyes is covered with a ragged black patch. His face is definitely reptilian.  
The mutant sighed and produced a ragged blanket from his pack and lays it on the pine needles. He does not know why he is going north. He _does_ know it is stupid. However, something is pulling him, calling to him, and his resistance to it is nothing. It is something he must do.  
The mutant took out a pair of pronged weapons, sai, and, in a ritualistic way, thrust them into the ground by his bed. Then he turned to his supper again.  
"Here's to you Leonardo." he said quietly, "Wherever you may be."  


I hope you enjoy this story...  


[E-mail me][1] with comments, or review me :) 

   [1]: mailto:TurtleGal9@AOL.com



	2. Calm Before the Storm'

# Shattered Mirrors

## Chapter 2

### "Calm before the Storm"

Mike sighed as he looked out the window of the van. He watched the snow covered fields zip by with a detached disinterest. He wondered why he was going here. Why this pull had come to him. He knew that it had come last year, and the year before... always around the anniversary of Leo's death. The first year the hurt had been too much, the wound too fresh, and Michaelangelo had ignored it as best he could.  
The next year Mike was too busy with Ty's birth and all.  
This was the first year he had been able to answer the call... it seemed he had been forced to answer it. The fates seemed to punish any resistance he had put up. Losing his shop and home, forced to flee. He had only been able to think of here to go. It was home.  
Mike looked over at Venus. She played with Ty on the floor of the van. She was a casualty of Mike's rejection. She had left behind everything when she had fled with him. She still seemed happy though. He loved her. He truly did. She was so kind.  
She had been the impossibility come true for all four of them in the beginning. Now she was his, and the next generation was there. Mike smiled at Tyler. The little boy was the joy of his life. All his life, Mike had loved kids. Now he had one of his own and he could barely believe it was true. He only wished that Tyler could have met his other two uncles.  
Mike sighed and looked out the window again.  
  


**

  
  
She sat on the sun porch, listening to the radio and painting her nails. Her mother had just told her to come in because it was cold out, but she wasn't worried when Abigail didn't obey her. Why should her mom worry? Today was one of her good days. Her scattered mind could almost forget him today... almost.  
Abby took a deep breath of the cool, crisp air. She loved the smell of snow. It smelled so clean. She didn't mind the cold. She liked it. It was a distraction in a calming way.  
She finished with the last dabs of blue onto her nails then looked up around the large yard. A small movement caught her eye. Something in the trees... "the fuck?" she muttered.  
Her study was interrupted for the moment as her mom came out onto the porch. Handing Abby her coat, she fussed about how Abigail will catch her death of cold. She then informed her daughter that she was leaving for town and would be back late tonight.  
"Yea, k." Abby says in her normal, distracted, monosyllabic communication.  
"Now you be good. I'll leave my cell phone on if you need to reach me. Bye, baby." Her mom kissed her on the forehead as if she was only 7 or something.  
Abby nodded and a few minutes later she heard the old Cadillac of her mom's start up and leave.  
Abigail turned her attention back to the windbreak and the movement she had seen earlier. As the sun rose and started shedding more light on the landscape, it was more apparent that something _was_ in those trees. Abby wanted to know what.  
Stepping into her oversized black snow boots, Abby opened the door on the porch and stepped out into the snow. The wind had a cold bite to it, and she half wished she would have put a sweater on over the spaghetti strapped pajama top she had on. As she walked, she quickly adjusted though, and by the time she reached the trees, she was relishing the cold.  
She knew someone was there, she could see someone sleeping, and hear their breathing. The form seemed oddly familiar. Something she just couldn't place. She quietly came into the clearing where he slept. Then she got a good look at him.  
"Oh God, Leo!" she gasped "But.. you're dead!"  
Raph was on his feet with sai in hands in a flash, awakened by her voice. He growled deeply.  
"L-le-Leo?" the girl sobbed "Oh god, I'm sorry. I'm _so_ sorry!" She sobbed into her hands and turned and ran towards the small farmhouse, leaving a befuddled Raph behind.  
He scratched his head. How had she seen him? and snuck up on him for that matter? and more importantly, why had she called him Leo? and why had she said Leo was dead? Raph stuck his sai in his belt and quickly packed up. He slung his pack on his back and headed towards the house. It was time to get some answers.  
Inside the house, Abigail slumped against the wall by the door. She started to sob. Why were they coming today? She thought she was getting better, she hadn't had an episode like this in months. Damn it, and this was supposed to be one of her _good_ days!  
Raph approached the door and opened it. Abigail shrank as small as she could and tried to disappear. Raph entered, looking around with a none too nice look on his face. He spotted Abigail.  
"Who are you?" he demanded, "And how do you know Leo?"  
Abby shivered and looked up into the turtle's face, she looked at him and she realized he wasn't Leo. "I-I'm Abigail. I knew Leo." she said in a shaky voice, "Who're you? You're not Leo."  
"No." Raph said darkly "I'm Raphael."  
A flicker of recognition went off in her mind... something he had typed once to her about someone named Raphael. _"Isn't it funny how you don't really miss someone until they're gone? I had a friend named Raphael that I've lost contact with, and god I miss him."_ She looked at him with fear in her eyes. What was he gonna do to her?  
"What do you mean you _knew_ him?" the mutant growls.  
She looked up at him.. didn't he know? "I... I watched him die." she said in the quietest voice she could.  
Raphael's eyes flashed fiery with anger. In a movement faster than the eye, he had her pinned up against the wall, a sai held threateningly against her neck. He hissed, low and menacing. "You better be lying, lady."  
Abby gulped and looked at him with terror in her expression. Raph sighed and his expression of anger calmed a little. He just glared at her, then finally let her go. "You are coming with me."  
"What?" Abby said, getting panicky "Where?"  
"Don't ask questions. I will give you five minutes to get whatever you need. If you are not back here in five, I _will_ come after you." Raph put the sai up into her face, "and I _do_ know how to use these. I know how to use them so it's _very_ painful. So don't try any funny stuff."  
Abby shuddered. Raph moved the sai from in front of her in a flashing arch. He pointed at the stairs with his sai. "Go." Abigail scampered up the stairs faster than she thought she could ever move.  
Raph snarled as she disappeared. He headed into the kitchen and started looking for food to pack into his backpack. Abby had not done a good job to settle his feelings. She had almost confirmed them. They better not be true, or she would be dead.  
Abigail reached the top of the stairs and collapsed in a befuddled heap against the wall. What the hell was going on? Her scattered mind was hysterical. Who was this? What was he? God, she needed help.  
Slowly a small calm came over her mind as she accepted the situation. She went to her room, she took out her camping backpack. She packed an extra shirt, her stuffed kangaroo, her sandals, her toothbrush and toothpaste, a package of sanitary pads, and a maroon blanket. She sighed and took a small box out from under her pillow. She opened it and looked in it, running her finger over the fabric in there, she sighed sadly.  
"YOU GOT ONE MINUTE GIRL!" came a gruff holler from downstairs, disturbing. Her eyes went wide and she snapped the box closed and stuck it in the front pocket of her pack. She stuffed a pair of jeans in the pack, then pulled on her waterproof sweatpants over her pajama bottoms. She grabbed a red gymnastics sweatshirt and pulled it on.  
She headed out of her room, then thought again, and turned back and grabbed an old winter coat out of the hall closet. She came down the stairs, trying not to show the fear she felt when she saw his growling face.  
She shoved the coat into his hands. "Here." she said simply. She quickly slipped her feet into her black boots and grabbed the coat her mom had been trying to get her to wear earlier and put it on. She turned to him. He looked puzzled at her sudden attitude change, but when he looked into her eyes, he recognized the hidden fear and shrugged it off.  
"I want to leave a note so my mom won't worry." she said.  
Raph was surprised. She was taking the whole thing a lot different than he had expected. He nodded. "Write a note and I'll see if it's okay."  
Abigail scribbled on a piece of paper and showed it to Raph. Raph nodded his head. He handed Abby a bag of food, which she stuck in her pack. They left out the back door.  
On the table, this note was left.  


> Bye Mom!  
Went with someone to finish up some business.  
Don't worry, I took my coat.  
~Abby

  
  


***

  
  
"Man, isn't there anything you can do, Don?" Mike asked, fanning some of the steam away from the van's engine.  
"No way, Mike. I may be smart, but they've changed so much with these new cars. Everything's digitized. There's no way I can fix it without special tools, which unfortunately, I don't have at this time and place." Don answered, looking at the van's complicated motor.  
"Oh great." Mike said sarcastically, a tinge of anger and frustration in his voice, "You know, this was fine when we were alone, but I've got a wife and a kid in there. I don't think they're up to hiking to the farm through the snow!"  
"You act like I wanted this to happen!" Don snapped, "I ain't exactly _thrilled_ with the damn situation either, Mike."  
There was a short awkward pause. Mike was the first to talk, he put his hand behind his head, looking at Don. "Sorry, Don. Didn't mean to get snippy with you. It's just, ya know, I'm worried. What _are_ we gonna do though?"  
Don chuckled a little, "We're gonna do what normal people do, call a tow truck." Mike's eyes widened as Don pulled out his cell phone.  
"What? Don, are you crazy? What about our appearances? Disguises don't usually work in close quarters you know, and Ty's way to active to keep his on. Also, what about the cost?"  
"Mike, I've made quite a nest egg from the inventions I've marketed over time, don't worry about the cost. As for disguises, don't worry about it. I've found that if a good amount of green is involved, most humans don't mind if part of it is your skin color." Don grinned.  
Mike paused for a minute then chuckled. "Well, you always were our resident genius, Donnie. Heh, make that call!"  
  


***

  
  
A wolf howled somewhere off in the distance and the mutant once again wondered what he was doing. Raphael now knew the destination of this foolish pilgrimage, but he still didn't know quite why he was heading to the farmhouse.  
Something was pulling him back there. Something he had no control over, and yet no desire to fight. Something was wrong, he knew that... Something was _very_ wrong.  
He looked over to where the girl lay sleeping. She was a puzzle. He didn't know quite why he had brought her with. Maybe to keep himself safe? Maybe.. just maybe because he was a little lonely? ...  
She was quiet... very quiet. It creeped him out. Getting answers out of her was like pulling teeth. He feared what she had said. Leo couldn't be dead.. _could he?_  
Raph sighed and pulled the coat tighter about him. He lay down, watching of the embers of the fire die out as he tried to silence the nagging thoughts in his head.  
They would be to their destination early tomorrow, barring misfortune or bad weather, then he would know the truth.  
Raph looked over at Abigail one last time before he closed his eyes and gave into a haunted sleep.  
  


***

  
  
Mike sat in the waiting room of a dirty gas station, waiting quietly for Don to finish talking to the mechanic in the garage.  
He looked over at Ty. The little boy was happily stacking boxes of air filters, and then just as happily, knocking them down. Mike smiled.  
He then turned to Venus. She was asleep. Mike's smile grew. Ty must have tired her out. He had learned how to walk, and was becoming quite a handful. _'Alot like his dad.'_ Mike thought, _'Wonder how the heck Splinter handled all four of us as kids.'_  
"Mike?" Don asked as he came in from the garage. Mike looked up at him, an unsaid question in his eyes.  
"Don't worry." Don said, "It'll be ready in a few hours. We should be on the road again by nightfall. Meanwhile, there's a restaurant next door if you wanna go grab a bite to eat."  
"I'm not really hungry, but I think Tyler is." Mike said, then he gestured to Venus, "Plus, I don't really wanna wake Meih."  
"Oh, no problem." Don said, "I'll just take Ty with me and go get something to eat. I'm famished."  
"Ok" Mike said. He turned to Tyler, who had just successfully knocked down another pile of air filters. "You wanna go get some yum-yums with your uncle Don?"  
"Fwies!" Ty squealed happily and toddled over to Don.  
"I'm pretty sure that means yes." Mike said, chuckling slightly.  
"Okay then." Don said, grabbing Ty up, "Let's get going, then. Bye you two." and they headed out.  
Mike looked at Venus and sighed as he lay his head on hers and gathered her into his arms. She mumbled something incoherent, then lay her head on his chestplate and went back to a peaceful slumber.  
_'What more could anyone ask for?'_ Mike thought to himself as he drifted off.  


[E-mail me][1] with comments, or review me :)  


   [1]: mailto:TurtleGal9@AOL.com



	3. Flight'

Shattered Mirrors - Chapter 3 - "Flight"

Shattered Mirrors Chapter 3 "Flight"

Mike stirred slightly, awaking from slumber in the gas station. He blinked the sleepiness out of his eyes, and looked at his watch. It was 9:30... The Van should be done by now. Mike's stomach rumbled a little as he remembered he hadn't eaten.  
"Meih?" he shook her softly and she awoke. She looked up at him and smiled.  
"Hey babe." she said quietly, "Where's Tyler?"  
"With Don, eating. You wanna go get some grub?"  
Meih Pei Chi nodded her consent. They both stood up and stretched a little before heading for the door. However, Mike ran into Don at the door.  
"Done eating already, Don?" Mike asked, "Venus and I were just going to join you."  
"Never mind that!" Don said, and Mike could sense the urgency in his voice as he lowered it. "We need to get out of here _now_, I don't have time to explain. We gotta go."  
Mike nodded, and took Ty from Don's arms. The little boy was strangely quiet as he played with a toy airplane.  
Donatello quickly got the keys for the van and they all hustled out to leave. Mike sensed what was going on the minute they left the door of the filling station. He could feel the eyes watching him. He felt hunted.  
Michaelangelo looked over at Venus and Tyler as they piled into the van. Although they both were quiet, neither of them seemed to realize the impending danger that might be facing them.  
As they drove away from the gas station, Don pulled into a group of cars, and soon the feeling of being watched and hunted lessened. Mike looked at his brother.  
"What's going on, Donnie?" Mike asked solemnly.  
"Well Mike..." Don sighed and rubbed his hand against his head as he drove, keeping his eyes plastered to the path ahead as the traffic thinned out. "Like most times in my life, I have an enemy. I still haven't figured out who it is. I'm pretty sure it's one of my competitors. I mean, not a one of them was too happy when i started flooding the market with my inventions." Don sighed and paused, then continued, "Many of them think that I'm too snobby to go about at the conventions and such. Thankfully, only a few know the truth about who and what the leader of T-Tech Industries is. Apparently, one of them thinks the best solution is to kill me."  
"Why don't they just try to publicly expose you Don?" Mike asked, "It'd be a lot more effective, I'd think, than killin' ya."  
"True," Don said, "but I have that avenue covered fully. My publications manager, Marty, acts as legal head of the company. He knows my inventions as well as I do. He makes an awesome figurehead, and he's very trustworthy. My name is listed in the lower downs of the finance department."  
"Well, what about the hitmen? What kinds of skills do they have?" Venus added from the back of the van. Tyler had gone to sleep in his carseat.  
Don chuckled. "Well, nothing a ninja can't avoid. They don't know any martial arts, so far. The ones that have been sent after me are no 'masters of the darkness', thankfully. However, they do pack guns. So, there's always an element of danger."  
"Do you think they're following us?" Mike asked, glancing behind them and seeing no other cars on the road.  
"No way, they're no ninjas. They'd be shooting at us or something much more obvias."  
"Do they know about the farm?"  
"I don't think so, but when I bought the place from April, I made sure it'd be safe. The whole acreage is surrounded by a big tall wood fence, and if they get past that, there's electrified barb wire within that."  
"That makes me feel a lot safer." Venus said from the back seat.  
"Me too, Venus, me too." Don replied with a slight smile.  
  


***

  
  
"Wait." The single word was spoken as he raised a dirty, tattered arm in front of her. Abigail looked at him as he sniffed the air. His good eye darted around nervously.  
Raph snarled slightly, the air smelled of ash. "It's charged." he stated flatly.  
"Huh?" Abby asked, confused.  
"The fence. It's electric. Don't touch it." Raph snatched a long dead weed from the snow and touched the fence with it, it burst into a small flame and burnt away. Whoever had put up this fence wanted to keep out intruders, not wildlife...  
Abigail just looked at Raph, wondering what he would do. He looked over at her and his lip curled up. For one fearful moment, Abby thought the look was directed at her. Then Raph looked back at the fence.  
"I'm almost there, no shitting way I'm letting this stop me." he murmured softly. The mutant took off his coat and coverings, leaving his pants on. He revealed a deeply scarred, worn, cracked shell. He looked at the girl and handed her the garments. He braced himself, he knew this was going to hurt...  
Abigail gasped in horror as he threw himself against the fence, shell first. She heard a large electrical cracking noise. The fence broke under his weight and he fell into the snow on the other side. He lay there still for a few moments and Abby thought for sure he must be dead.  
"Damn fuckin..." he mumbled as he sat up, shaking from the electric shock. She went to his side at once and helped him get up. He angrily shook off her offers of help and grabbed his garments from her. She could tell he was in pain although, by the way he was shaking so.  
He took off and she followed silently. He didn't need her help. How many times had he said it to her during this short journey? He didn't need anyone's help he told her. She wondered what had made him so angry.  
As they traveled, Abby soon noticed an old farmhouse on the horizon. Raph's pace picked up a little, and she found herself a bit out of breath to keep up. Was this their final destination? Abby wondered what was so special about this place as they got closer. It looked as if it had been abandoned, but there was no major disrepair. Just that the walks and driveway showed no signs of shoveling or footprints. What was so significant about his place? Abby wondered this, but dared not to ask Raph.  
As they got closer, an alarm was heard sounding, no doubt because of Raph breaking the fence. Abigail followed Rafael into the house, where the alarm quickly ceased, due to Raph's violent punch to the system it was coming from. Sparks flew, and with a dying moan, silence was heard throughout the farmhouse.  
Raph looked about the room, with Abby standing in the doorway behind him. It looked much as the last time he had seen it... after Splinter's death... the night he had left them...  
Raph choked on emotion, and he could swear he could still see Michaelangelo, tossing and turning on the couch, in a fit of yet another nightmare. His vision blurred, but he quickly pulled himself together, pushing his emotions down deep. He cursed himself for being sentimental, and turned quickly to glare at Abigail.  
Abby felt like an intruder in a sacred place.. how little she knew how much Raph felt she was the same. "We're here." he said coarsely, "Go upstairs and find a place to suit you. We're not going anywhere for a few days. I have phone calls to make, and you're not to concern yourself with my affairs."  
Abby nodded slightly and quickly took to the stairs.  
Raph sighed as he looked around again, and went into the kitchen to start to call around.  
  


***

  
  
Donnie hummed to himself as he pulled through the gates and headed through the snow to the farmhouse. He was glad the van was built very solid as he plowed through the snowdrifts. As he neared the house, his keen eyes picked up on something wrong.. the snow was disturbed around the front entrance... Who was in the house, or had been in it? Vagrants? but how? The fence was electric.  
As he pulled up in the back of the farmhouse, he turned to Mike. "Mikey, you and I go in first, Venus and Tyler can stay in the van until we say the coast is clear."  
Mikey nodded in agreement, and Venus looked like she wanted to protest, but said nothing.  
As Michaelangelo and Donatello approached the door, both of their outer cloaks dropped silently to the snow, a fluid movement. As they approached the back door, they could hear sounds from the kitchen within. Loud cursing in an eerily familiar yet unplaceable voice. Slamming around, something breaking...  
Donnie pushed the door open silently, and all the noises ceased abruptly. A low growl was heard and before either of them had a chance to react or even think, a mass of rags flew out the door and pinned Mike to the ground.  
However, the push to the ground was just the beginning of his shock. As he looked to the face of his attacker, he gasped. A face ripped and scarred, caked thickly with dirt, but still terribly familiar. It was Raphael. There was no mistaking the image that had haunted Mike for so long. As brother recognized brother, angry eyes softened, and slight smiles came to their faces. Raph stood up and looked at Mike. "You always were slow, Mike." He kicked a footfull of snow at his stunned brother, "and now you're old too.  
Raphael looked over at Donatello. "Don." he said, a statement more than a greeting.  
By this time Abigail had peeked out the door, but no one noticed her. She had heard the commotion and come to see what was going on, although Raph had warned her to 'stay out of his business'.  
"Where is he?" Raph asked bluntly, staring Don straight in the face.  
"Who?" Don asked, though he knew full well who Raph meant.  
"You know who. Don't play with me Don. Where's Leo?"  
"Leonardo is dead, Raphael." Don said with a certainty.  
Raphael growled. It was true. He knew that. He had known that. But to hear it spoken infuriated him, so he reacted the only way he knew how. With anger. He shoved Mike to the ground again and roundhoused Don in the face, then took off at a fast pace into the woods.  
Abby looked on in shock. She had no idea who these others were nor what they wanted. Raph was the only one who she knew even partially. She screamed for him to wait then took off after him, running between the stunned turtles.  
Mike looked at Don with questioning eyes as Abigail disappeared into the trees.  
"Let the bastard go. He'll come back, and if not then it's his own fault. Not like he can hurt much out here." Don said with a tinge of anger in his voice.  
"What about the girl?"  
"If she cares so much about Raph to go running after him like that, then she's been with him long enough to keep up with the jerk. It's none of our concern."  
Mike sighed, Don seemed so callous, but he was probably right. Mike cast a glance in the direction the girl had run off in, and then went to help Venus out of the van.  
  


***

  
  
Don sighed as he set to work on the alarm control box, Raphael had really smashed it good. Damn, why did he have to be so destructive? He was going to have to hammer out that corner before he would even be able to get the dang thing open. Don wandered into the kitchen. Mike was there, sweeping up what looked like it might have been a vase. Don sighed as he saw the telephone cords hanging out of the wall. Another thing to fix.  
Mike finished sweeping up the glass fragments and looked at Don. "Why does he do this, Donnie?" Mike asked with exasperation in his voice.  
"Because he's an idiot." Don answered flatly, "He doesn't know how to handle things so he just lashes out. And that usually makes things worse."  
Michaelangelo sighed and dumped the contents of the dustpan into the trash can, then went to work cleaning on the counter. "I hope he comes back."  
When Don didn't respond, Mike sighed, he didn't need this split right now. He needed unity in his family. "When are you gonna go check the perimeter for the breech?" Mike asked.  
"Soon." Don responded, glad for the change in subject. "Probably tomorrow morning. I'm gonna try and get the control box up and operational tonight. It's gonna take some time though."  
"Sounds cool." Mike said, "Need me to come with you?"  
"Nah. I'll be fine on my own." Don said as he fished a hammer out of a toolbox under the sink, "You can sleep in, but I want breakfast when I come back."  
"Ahh, I see." Mike grinned, "Le famous Michaelangelo Special!"  
"Dang straight." Don replied, returning the grin with one of his own as he walked out of the kitchen, "I didn't buy all those groceries for nothing."  
  


***

  
  
The quiet of the dawn was close around him as he walked the fence. He had to get this thing fixed soon. His enemy knew he was on the move. That was a bad thing. He just hoped that they didn't know where he was going.  
Don hummed a little as his eyes followed the next stretch of barbed wire. There was disturbed snow, but no broken fence... what did Raph do? Hurdle it on the way out? Maybe he was still somewhere on the acreage. It was very possible. As Donatello got closer, something dark stood out in the white snow. _'What the heck?'_ Don wondered and he quickened his pace, keeping himself silent though.  
It was that girl! The one who had ran after Raph. Don quickly ran to her. Was she sleeping? No. She was talking quietly. She didn't seem to make much sense. Nor did she seem to realize Don was there. She was shaking... was she frostbitten? A quick visual examination revealed a swollen ankle, no doubt that it was at least sprained, if not broken. There were white patches on her uncovered legs and arms, indicating severe frostbite.  
"Damnit." Don's curse sounded loud against the silence. He took his cloak off and wrapped her shivering body in it before scooping her up into his strong arms and taking off towards the farmhouse.  
  


***

  
  
Michaelangelo moved happily around the little kitchen with ease. It had been sometime since he had been up this early, but something about being back at the farmhouse just had got to him. He couldn't sleep in. Not on a beautiful day like this.  
Don had already been gone when he woke up, no doubt checking the fenceline. Venus was still asleep. _'Good, she deserves her sleep'_ Mike thought to himself.  
Mike sang to Tyler as he picked up the little boy's bear and put it on the tray of his high chair once again. Tyler gurgled happily, thoroughly amused by this game. Mike laughed and continued making pancake batter.  
No one was prepared for the interruption when Don came bursting in through the back door, a young girl in his arms. "Mike!" he said, "Go fill the bathtub with warm water."  
Mike nodded, not asking questions, and went to do so. Don followed him to the bathroom where he set the girl on the floor. She immediately curled up, pulling her legs against her chest and told him loudly to go away.  
Don looked stunned. It was the first coherent words the girl had spoke. However, she still needed attention or the frostbite would hurt her.  
"Listen lady." Don said, "You need to get in that tub there. You have severe frostbite and unless you want to be in a lot of pain later, you'd better do it."  
The girl remained silent.  
"Listen, either you do it yourself, or I'm doing it."  
The girl's eyes hit the floor as her cheeks turned a bright red. She still stayed silent.  
"So," Don asked, "What's the decision?"  
"Fine." the girl said quietly, defeated.  
"Good." Don said. He hadn't been too excited about having to undress a girl. Especially one that didn't want him touching her.  
Don nodded to Mike and they both left. Don followed Mike into the kitchen. "Well," Mikey said, "Looks like we'll have to set another place for breakfast."  
  


Chapter 4 coming soon! 


	4. Mike's Story'

Shattered Mirrors  


Chapter 4  


"Mike's Story"  


Abby shuddered as another chill racked her body. She sank deeper into the warm water, trying to let it soothe her frozen, chapped skin. She watched as the white, dead spots on her legs turned red and sparked to life with shooting pain. Another shudder coursed through her, but this time it was due to the pain.  
Abigail tried to remember how she had gotten here. The gaps in memory frustrated her. She remembered her mom saying that she was going into town... She remembered painting her nails blue. As she looked at her nails, she noticed they still had remnants of the polish, so it couldn't have been too long ago. Then she remembered waking up here. With this... this... _creature_ holding her... and being cold... _so_ cold... but how had she gotten here? WHAT was that creature she had seen? She had seen two of them. The other one was the one who had drawn up this bath for her. Did she know them? Was she supposed to know them? Damn it, she hated coming out of these episodes. She thought about the one who had been holding her, and suddenly it struck her... they were just like... HIM... _Leonardo_.  
_'Oh God.'_ Abby thought to herself, _'Another episode. I'm in the middle of another episode!'_ She had rarely been this awake in an episode though... this sentient... this reasoning. What was going on?  
Her thoughts were interrupted as a knock came on the door and the door to the bathroom creaked open slightly. A hand reached in and set some towels on the counter.  
A female voice said, "Here, dear, some clean towels. When you get out Don says we need to wrap that ankle up."  
Abigail remained silent. _'Don?'_ she thought, _'Who's Don?'_. Then she looked at her ankle. True, it had hurt a little when she was getting in the tub, but now she saw it was puffy and swollen, not to mention that it was changing to an odd purple color. Now she recognized the throbbing pain she felt; the pain that had been masked by the stinging sensations that came from her frozen skin. _'Damn, how did that happen?'_  
Abigail got up, out of the tub, and hobbled the short distance to the counter. Now the numbing effects of the cold were wearing off and the pain was starting to get to her. Everything hurt and she was still chilled to the bone. She dried off with the towels, surprised that they were warm. Thankfully, under the towels she found some clothes. They weren't hers, but they looked warm and roomy enough.   
As she put on the sweatshirt and tightened the drawstring on the pants, around her waist; she noticed the back was stretched out quite a bit.  
Abigail shivered again, still not warmed up, and a knock came on the door. It creaked open slightly and that same female voice said, "Dear, can I come in?"  
Abby stayed silent and the door was opened and someone stepped in. Abigail stared, it was another.. well.. What was it? She was a mutant like Leonardo, but she was.. well.. a _she_. Abigail took a few steps back, and sat down hard on a chair, the pain reminding her that her ankle was still sore.  
"Dear?" Venus asked, "Are you okay?"  
"fine." she murmured softly. If she had just gotten out of an episode, the supposed mutant was probably a nurse. It probably wouldn't do Abby any good to talk of the hallucinations and it would just get her in more trouble.  
"We need to bandage up that ankle of yours. My name is Venus. They tell me you're a friend of Raphael. What is your name?"  
"Abigail." she said quietly. _'Raphael?'_ why did that name sound so familiar?  
"Well, Abigail, let's get that ankle bandaged up." Venus sat down near Abigail's foot and started bandaging it.  
The more Abby watched this nurse, the more aroused her curiosity became. If this was a hallucination, it was sure the best damn one _she'd_ ever had. The most detailed at least. After Venus finished bandaging her injury, she stood up and said, "There we go. Now let's go have some breakfast."  
"Wait." Abby said quietly, finally figuring out a safe question to ask. "Do you have any family, Venus?"  
Venus looked at Abigail strangely.. _'Didn't Raph tell her anything?'_. Abby shuttered. She knew that it was a silly question to ask the nurse, but she had to be sure she was talking to a person, and not just a figment of her imagination.  
"Yes I do." Venus smiled. "I have a son named Tyler. And you know that turtle that drew up your bath earlier? That's Michaelangelo, my husband."  
Abby shook her head, sure that she had misheard. "Did you say turtle?"  
"Yes dear, I did. He's just like Raphael. They're brothers."  
_'Raphael'_ again that name... something about that name bugged her. For some reason it reminded her of an eye patch.. why? Was Raphael a pirate? _'Maybe a sea turtle??'_ "What about you?" Abby asked cautiously, treading on shaky territory.  
"Me?" Venus asked, "You mean, are they _my_ brothers? Well, not genetically. Although I have thought of them as brothers ever since we met, I'm only genetically linked with Leonardo... erm.. well I was at least." The thought of her absentee brother made Venus frown.  
"L-L-Leonardo??" Abigail looked very scared. All pigment drained from her face, and she looked as though she was going to faint.  
"Dear child!" Venus rushed to support Abigail lest she fall off the chair, "What's wrong?"  
"Nothing." Abigail said, although inside her head _everything_ was wrong. This was no hallucination, it was real as she was. "Shit." Abigail murmured softly.  
  


***

  
  
Don sat at the kitchen table, making faces at Tyler when Venus came in supporting that girl. Venus helped her sit down at the table. She looked quite shaken.  
"Here you go, dudette. This will warm you up through and through." Mike said as he set a mug of hot chocolate in front of her. She looked silently at him, then murmured in a quiet voice "Thanks." and took the mug and started to sip at it.  
"My name is Donatello, and that's Michaelangelo." Don stated to the girl. "What is your name?"  
"Abby." she stated quietly.  
"Well Abby," Don said, taking a bite of pancake and chewing it thoughtfully for a moment before swallowing and continuing, "How did you meet Raph?"  
There were a few long moments of uncomfortable silence then Abby shrugged her shoulders. Donatello felt like shaking her as his brow wrinkled. Was she going to be this difficult the whole time?  
"I could tell you how _I_ met Raph, if it'd help." Venus said softly, non-intimidating. Abby looked at her gratefully. Venus seemed a little less scary than the others.  
"I can tell ya too!" Mike laughed, "Wham! Pow! Right in the kisser! Venee hog-tied us and hung us up like sides of beef."  
Meih Pei Chi gave Mikey a look. "You make me sound like a common hood."  
"You are. You're a ruffian, Meih!"  
"You better watch it, Mike." Meih said in a mock threatening tone, shaking her fist at her husband, "I'll show _you_ a ruffian."  
Tyler started fussing and Venus broke her gaze on Mike's smirking face. She sniffed the air, her beak wrinkled up. "Icky.. My little boy needs a change, doesn't he?" she told Tyler as she picked him up out of his high chair. She took Tyler and left the kitchen, heading upstairs.  
Donatello looked at Abigail expectantly, she had been asked a question and he expected her to answer. Abigail squirmed uncomfortably under Don's scrutinizing gaze. Mike noticed her discomfort and decided to step in. "I take it Raph didn't mention us." he said.  
Abigail shook her head 'no'. She still didn't remember Raph, but it was true that she had no idea who these.. well... these _turtles_ were.  
"Well, we're his brothers. He _did_ tell you how we mutated, right?"  
Again Abby shook her head 'no'.  
Mike sighed, "Raph can be like that sometimes. Real closed book."  
Abigail merely blinked.  
"Well, lemme tell you a story then. It was..." Mike paused as he did a little mental arithmetic, "Damn, it's been over thirty years now, hasn't it Don?" Mike said, a faraway look creeping onto his face.  
"Sure has." Don said.  
"Well, anyway, Abigail." Mike began, "In late, last century, people were very lazy with how they disposed of chemicals. Some of it got into the sewer system. You know what that is, right? It's what they used to use before chemical waste disposal became more common."  
Abby nodded 'yes'. What did this turtle think she was? Stupid? She wasn't _that_ young! Even if she hadn't learned about the sewers in school, every once and a while the news would buzz with politicians arguing over what to do with the old underground tunnels.  
"Well, anyway, back then we were just normal turtles, bought as pets actually, all five of us. We fell into the sewers somehow, and came into contact with a totally weird mix of these leftover chemicals, and it started changing us. We became what we are today.. mutants..." Mike looked at Don.  
Don smiled and took the cue, reciting the familiar yarn "Well, at about the same time, a rat got into the same mutagenic mixture of chemicals. Somehow it started increasing his intelligence even that early in the mutation. He gathered four out of the five of us turtles into a coffee can, and when we all fully mutated, he took us four in as his own."  
"And Venus! She was the fifth turtle, she got carried away by like some gnarly sewer water curls. She ended up down in a part of the city that used to be called Chinatown, and a Chinese guy named Chung I who was visiting New York from his home in China found her. When she started mutating, he realized that she was more than just a sign of good luck. He took her in and raised her in his homeland, China. When we all were in our late teens, we finally reunited with her. Now she's my wife." Mike grinned proudly.  
Abby felt as though she was in a trance. This whole thing was too unreal. It wasn't an episode, she had convinced herself of that by now, but _what was it???_  
Don looked at his beaming brother. He had noticed that Mike's Californian surfer accent had deeply enhanced, but the overtones of the Bronx sound that had always shadowed it were still faintly there. Don still did not know of any of Mike's goings on whilst he was away from New York. Donatello decided now was as good a time as any to bring it up. "I've been meaning to ask, Mike. How and when DID you and Venus get married?"   
Mike's grin grew a tad wider. He was in just the right mood to tell this story. Don sighed because he could tell by the look in Mike's eye that he wasn't gonna get the abridged version of this tale.  
"Well, after Venus and I left New York. That was about five years ago by the way, Abby." Mike added, nodding to Abigail, "We traveled north, took in lots of Canada, though most of it from the side of train box cars. I was just kinda following Venus. I knew she wanted to go home... to China. It took us about a year, but we made it..." Mike stopped and scratched his chin, as if thinking. "Once we got there, we stayed with a lady named.. get this.. _China_!" Mikey paused and let out a hearty laugh, Don smiled and shook his head at his brother's merriment. "Anyway, I worked for China keeping her land, and Venus helped her in the house. Turns out she knew Chung I well and pretty much helped raise Venus. One of the silly things about her was that her father was from the UK, and she had been raised there, so she had a British accent! She was an awesome old lady, great sense of humor."  
Don's eyeridges raised. He had known Venus for a long time and she had never disclosed any information about a "China" to him. How odd... he had known she was closed mouthed about her past, but he had never known to what extent.  
"We got married in a private ceremony in one of China's gardens. It was fun! Meih was so beautiful." Mike paused for a moment as he realized something. He looked at Abigail. "By the way Abby, Venus' real name is Meih Pei Chi, so sometimes I call her Meih, ok?"  
Abby nodded her head mutely.  
"Anyway, we got married about a month before..." Mike paused, a frown covering his features, a furrow on his brow. He looked at Don, and Don saw a deep sorrow in his eyes. "Well, before... _you know_..." Mike sighed, He hadn't realized until just now how soon before Leo's disappearance that his wedding had been.  
"It's okay, Mikey." Don soothed, realizing what his brother must be talking about. He reached over and patted his brother's shell, "It's okay..."  
Mike sniffed and put a determined look on his face, not to be deterred from telling his story. "Well, Abigail, what I'm talking about is that our brother, Leonardo, disappeared about that time. I won't go into too much detail, because frankly, we don't have much. Leo went to meet some girl he met on the Internet and just never returned. He's most likely dead."  
Abby's eyes grew wider at the mention of Leonardo's name. It was just too unreal to be a coincidence. Her Leo and theirs had to be one in the same. Abigail cursed the fates for playing with her.  
Mike noted the change in Abby's expression and made a mental note to ask her about it at a later date. "Anyway... about a year after our marriage..." Mike let out a shaky breath before continuing, "Venus and I experienced another tragedy. China passed away."  
Mike stopped and covered his eyes, then ran his hand back over his scalp. He let out a hollow laugh. "All the sad parts of the story in the same place... don't you know that makes for a bad book?"  
Don shrugged, unsure on what to say.  
"Well anyway, it wasn't _all_ bad news. China had left everything, her whole estate, plenty of assets, to Meih and me. After we traveled to the UK with her body for the burial, we came back to the estate in China... but it just wasn't the same... it felt haunted, ya know?"  
Don nodded, he had felt the same way in this very farmhouse, especially when he was alone here.  
"Anyway," Mike continued, his attitude cheering a bit, "We decided to move back to the states. We packed up and headed to a small town in California. That's where Tyler was born. I started up a small surf shack and was doing quite well. You'd be surprised how much appearance _doesn't_ affect people's attitudes towards you on the West Coast! Especially if it's accompanied by decent prices and friendly, knowledgeable service with a smile." Mike flashed his smile to show what he meant, feeling in much higher spirits.  
"Why'd you come back here, Mike?" Don asked.  
"Well..." Mike bit his lip, "You know what I said about people on the West Coast being pretty tolerable about looks?"  
Don nodded, he knew where this was headed.  
"Well, some people aren't. Some group of people had been bothering Venus and I the last six months that we lived there. They spray-painted nasty messages on our house and cars, broke windows in my shop, and even went as far as to come up to Venus in the marketplace and make threats to her." Mike sighed, "When Venus and I came home one day, our house was on fire. It was all we could do to get a few possessions out of there. Since neither of us are legal residents, not to mention that we're mutants, we really couldn't go to the cops or anything. When I returned to my shop, I received notice from my landlord that I was to vacate it as soon as possible. Apparently that group had been threatening him too. I sold all I had and came here..." Mike looked down, "I'm sorry Don. I didn't mean to impose on you. It's just the sewer lair was the only real place I could think to go. I'll give as much money as I can, but I don't have much left."  
Don smiled at his brother. "Don't worry about it, Mikey. It's all taken care of and don't _ever_ think you're imposing on me. You're my family, so is Venus and Tyler. Anything I have is yours."  
"Thanks Don." Mike looked at his brother and smiled gratefully.  
"Ahem." Venus said, standing in the doorway with Tyler positioned on her hip, "Sorry to break up this touching moment, but Mike, did you give Tyler Froot Loops this morning?"  
"Umm..." Mike said nervously, "Maybe..."  
"Mike! You _know_ that his stomach doesn't agree with those!" Venus sighed and rolled her eyes, "I cleaned him up. Now _I_ need a shower."  
"Sorry, Meih. He usually keeps them down when I feed them to him! Must be the new environment."  
"Apparently."  
Venus handed Tyler over to Mike. Tyler cooed and gurgled at his dad happily, as if laughing at the trouble Mike was in. "I'm going upstairs to shower." Meih Pei Chi said as she turned around and left the room, "Donatello, I'd feel much better if you were out repairing that fence rather than in here harassing that poor child." She commented as she headed upstairs. Mike noted the spit-up and Froot Loops sticking to the back of Venee's shell.  
Mike looked at Tyler when his wife was out of side. "You're trying to get me in trouble, aren't you?" he addressed his son. The child laughed and spat up a few more pieces of chewed up Froot Loops as he hiccuped. "Cute, Tyler." he smiled and wiped off the baby's mouth.  
"Abigail, how old are you?" Don asked, continuing his questioning of Abby.  
Abby sighed, but at least _this_ was a question she could answer. "I'm nineteen, sir." she replied quietly.  
"Well then, how-"  
"Don." Mike interrupted, "Leave the poor girl be. She's traumatized. She's been with _Raph_, for heaven's sake. Also, Venus is right. Shouldn't you be out checking the fence line?"  
Don gave him a look that said that he didn't trust Abigail. Mike read it clearly and smiled as he replied a bit sarcastically. "Don't worry, Don-san. I'm sure Abby will behave while you're gone. Right, girlfriend?"  
Abigail stared at him blankly for a few moments before realizing he expected her to answer. She shook her head 'yes' meekly.  
Mike grinned. "And if ya _don't_, I'll unleash Ty here on ya! I'll shake him up, and he'll spew cereal all over ya!" Mike laughed a little at his own joke. Don smiled and shook his head as he stood to put his outer cloaks on. Abigail looked a tad disgusted.  
"Okay Mike. I'm going. I'm going to leave the communicator link open if you need to reach me, okay?"  
"Ok dude. Go fer it, mon!" Mike said, "Wave bye to Uncle Don, Tyler!"  
Mike beamed with a pleased face when Ty waved his little hand and said "byyyyee."  


***

  


Don knelt down in the snow to examine the broken barbed wire. It had been broken by force. A circular shell imprint in the snow within the fence's perimeter confirmed that this was Raph's work. _'Damn,'_ he thought, _'Breaking through this thing must have really hurt that jerk.'_ Donatello's own shell ached a bit in sympathy pains for his brother.  
Donatello took out his tool kit and started replacing the barbed wire, then laced the electrified fibers discreetly through the intertwined metal wires. He connected the fibers to the other adjoining sides and stood back to look at his work.  
"Pretty good if I do say so, myself." he smiled to himself. Then he noticed the tracks of a hare. The tracking mechanism in his mind switched on and he found his eyes following the tracks without thinking. He smiled at his mind's autopilot. _'Aw well, we need more meat anyway.'_ he thought to himself as he started following the tracks a little into the woods.  
Donnie smiled a bit when he remembered Venus's reaction when they had first brought home a rabbit for dinner. She was aghast and very perturbed at them for killing it. Thankfully, she had gotten more used to it as time had gone by. That had been a harder, thinner time for them all, and they had no choice but to eat rabbit. In the time doing it though, Don had developed a taste for them. He often would hunt one or two down when he was out here on the farm just for the thrill of the hunt and the taste of the meat.  
Don's thoughts were interrupted as he noticed Raph and Abigail's tracks, which ran nearby the rabbit tracks. A few other sets of human tracks branched off into the woods. Don's eyes widened and he hoped it wasn't what he thought. _'Oh shit, PLEASE let me be misperceiving these.'_ he thought to himself. As one of the sets of tracks ended at a tree, he looked up to see the snow disturbed on one of the branches. He gulped nervously and examined the tracks some more. He looked at the original set of two tracks, and could have slapped himself for not noticing earlier. The set that supposedly belonged to Abby was way too deep to be made by a girl of her stature. Not to mention their freshness. While a light snow from last night's wind and flurries covered Raph's tracks, Abby's were deep and prominent still. They had been made today.  
"Shit." Don said loudly and he turned on his communicator, "Mike?" he asked into it.  
After a bit of buzzing, the communicator clicked on the other end, and Mike's voice was heard. "Yo Don-dude, what's the haps?"  
"Mike, we've got a problem..."  



	5. Onslaught'

Shattered Mirrors  


Chapter 5  


"Onslaught"  


"A problem? What kind of _problem_?" Mike's voice asked from the communicator.  
"I don't know exactly, but we have intruders." Don reported. Then a thought struck him. "Mike, I repaired the break Raph made in the fence, so can you throw the switch on the breaker box? I want to make sure our perimeter is secure."  
A buzz was heard behind him as the fence switched on. It lessened to a barely audible hum, and thankfully, no alarm sound came out of the communicator. "Good. Now Mike, see the digital feedback panel there?"  
"Yeah? What about it?"  
"There are plus and minus buttons below it. I want you to press the plus button until the voltage is at it's maximum."  
"But Donnie!" Mike said, aghast, "Raph's out there!"  
"So are intruders, Mike." Don replied, not pausing a beat, "and they're smart enough to cover their tracks. I want to make sure we catch them. Alive _or_ dead."  
"But Don! What if Raph touches it? You said that high of a voltage could kill someone!"  
"I sure hope Raph isn't that stupid." Don said icily. "You also have three innocents in that house with you, Mike. You think you can protect them alone? What's more important, Raph or your wife and child?"  
"Don!" Mike snapped, "That's not fair! And why would Raph have to be stupid to touch the wire? He touched it before at lower voltage, and it didn't hurt him!"  
"Because. You'll see. Just turn it up, Mike."  
Michaelangelo sighed in defeat. "Okay, fine." As Mike turned up the meter, the inaudible hum grew into a loud electrical buzzing. Mike realized what Don had meant as he heard the sound coming from his communicator. Anyone who would hear that noise would be warned to not come near.  
"Okay, Don. Now what?" Mike asked his brother nervously.  
"Just wait Mike. I'm gonna see how far I can track these prints. I'll be back soon. Lock the doors and wait for me, okay?"  
"Okay, Don." Mike said with anxiety in his voice, "Just get back soon okay?"  


***

  


Don sat in the quiet living room, wringing his hands in nervous anticipation. He couldn't sleep. He wouldn't sleep. Something was out there. Something... _someone_ that could get them. Not that it mattered. Mike was out on patrol, not much was going to get past him. He should just go to bed. He knew that he'd have to go out on patrol when Mike came back, and he'd be no good to them if he was half dead tired.  
Donatello stood and walked upstairs for what seemed the fiftieth time that night. Stopping at Venus and Mike's doorway, he heard the faint tink of Tyler's crib mobile as it finished the nursery song "Baa baa Black Sheep". He looked at the bed and saw Venus' sleeping form. The turtle listened to his sister's even, quiet breath.  
Donatello took a final look at them, then moved on. Stopping at Abigail's door, he peered in to see her sleeping. Her bed was in shambles. She had no doubt been tossing and turning. However, now she seemed to be at peace, resting.  
Donatello paused at the entrance to his room, staring at the contents within. A single unkept bed, a cluttered desk with an old typewriter on it. In one corner an old Packard Bell computer, in another a equally cluttered work table.  
Don's eyes returned to the unmade bed. He knew that if he tried to sleep he couldn't. So why try?  
He pulled a blanket out of the pile of covers and turned to head back down the stairs. When he reached the bottom of them he wrapped the blanket around himself and headed to sit on the couch.  
_'Wait a second!'_ Donnie paused suddenly. What was that noise? Dropping the blanket to the floor and drawing his bo, he moved towards the front door where the noise seemed to come from... It sounded like someone picking the lock _'Oh shit!'_ he thought to himself and readied myself.  
He heard the bolt slide out and saw the door handle turn. The door opened and a strange figure was seen. Before Don had a chance to ponder the silhouette, it dumped a dead body onto his floor.  
"What the..?" he asked aloud. The dead man was wearing a gi, he was undoubtedly a ninja.  
"Brought you a present." came an unmistakable raspy voice.  
"Raph?"  
"Heh." Raph said, stepping into the light, "You were expecting maybe... the swamp thing?"  
Don looked at his brother intently. Raph was a mess. His clothes were a shredded mess of blood and mud. His face and indeed any exposed skin or shell was covered in a thick layer of brown mud. His right eye was covered by a well-worn black eye-patch, and the skin he could see peeking out around the mud was bloodied or scarred, or both.  
Raph smiled a little at his brother, cracking the dried mud on his face. "Do I pass inspection, Donnie T?" he asked, his voice dripping sharp-edged sarcasm.  
Don shook his head. "Get your ass in here, Raph! Mike's out on patrol. I don't want our security compromised, and having an open door does that quite well." _'Hell,'_ Don added silently, _'Just having Raph around seriously compromises our security! He's the damn reason we've been infiltrated to begin with!'_  
Raph lurched inside, limping alternately on each leg, telling Don that both of them hurt. Raphael collapsed into the armchair in the living room. Don looked around outside, his eyes scanning the darkness of the tree line, looking for any sign of movement or life.  
"I wasn't followed." Raph assured him, "Only one who was following me was that dead bastard by your feet."  
"Where have I heard that before?" Don said, reminding Raph of the time when bringing April to their lair he had revealed the location of their home to the Foot.  
"Aw shuttup, dipshit." Raph growled, "I ain't no stupid teenage turtle no more."  
"Yeah, now you're a stupid middle-aged turtle." Don said, and satisfied that Raph _hadn't_ been followed, he closed the door. He dropped the dead bolt back into place and armed the security system, cursing himself for not doing that earlier. _'Last damn time I ever depend on good old fashion watchdogging over technology.'_ he thought to himself.  
"Shut yer yapper, Don. I brought in _that_ straggler, didn't I?"  
Don looked down at the bloodied corpse at his feet. "Yeah, thanks a lot. Now I need to clean the carpet, Raph."  
"You're welcome." Raph quipped sarcastically, "You should know better than to have a light colored carpet when you're part of a family of ninjas."  
"_Most_ of my family aren't as incredibly rude as you, Raphael." Don replied as he heaved the dead weight of the corpse over his shoulder. "I'm putting this in the basement, no need for the others to observe your handiwork."  
Raph grunted in reply.  
"Try not to break anything while I'm down there." Don said as he opened the door to the basement. A crash was heard as Raphael knocked a pile of coasters off the end table just to annoy Donatello. Donnie sighed, irritated, and rolled his eyes before continuing down the stairs.  
After he had laid the body out on the basement floor and thrown a sheet over it, Don came back upstairs. He knelt down and picked up the coasters that were strewn on the floor behind the recliner, grumbling softly to himself. Raphael stayed silent. As Donatello stood up to set the coasters back on the end table, he noticed why. Raph was out of it. His head cocked slightly up and his mouth hanging open, his closed eye showed as some of the only skin on his face that wasn't brown with mud. _'He must really be wiped out.'_ Don thought to himself.  
"Get up, Raph. Go clean yourself up." Don said in disgust when he saw the mess Raph was making on his carpeting.  
When his brother didn't respond, Don shoved him a little. Raph's head thumped limply down onto his plastron and he slouched down into a position that _had_ to be uncomfortable. "Aw shit." Don muttered, irritated. He checked on his brother's breathing and other vitals and realized with a groan that Raph was unconscious.  
Donatello looked Raph over. There were several wounds that were leaking enough blood to cause unconsciousness, and, he noticed with irritation, staining his furniture.  
"Damn it Raph." Don complained to no one in particular, "Why do you have to do this shit?"  
Tucking one arm under Raph's knees and the other around the top area of his shell, Don picked him up and headed towards the bathroom. Once there, he lay the limp body on the linoleum and went to get his first aid kit.  
Coming back in, Don stood lingering in the doorway a moment longer, unsure on where to start. _'Well, dirt is never good for a wound.'_ thought Donnie to himself. He took a washcloth from the cupboard and wiped it over an oozing cut on his brother's cheek.  
"Oh, gross." Don said, disgusted. The cloth came away completely covered with filth. He noticed also, to his disappointment, that Raph's face seemed no better.  
"Oh great. I'm gonna have to bathe him." Don turned on the water in the tub. The old pipes groaned and complained when asked to produce water, but soon gave up their protests and clean water ran out of the spigot into the old tub. The familiar noises reminded Don of a time decades earlier when he had filled this same tub for the very same turtle he was filling it for now. Of course, he'd had Leo's help to get Raph into it at the time. _'I bet Raph weighed a lot more at that time too.'_ Don thought as he looked at Raph's emaciated form.  
Don knelt down and started peeling the layers off of the unconscious turtle, starting with a surprisingly new looking thinsulite coat. As the layers joined the pile of cloth on the floor, and the water filled the bottom of the tub, Don started noticing a nasty stench. He looked at his brother... It was _Raph_! Raphael stunk something awful. Like blood, body odor, urine, and dirty mud all mixed together. "When's the last time you took a bath?" There was no response. Donatello hadn't expected one.  
Don reached into the tub and turned off the water. He turned and looked his brother over. He didn't look much better than he smelled. He still had a layer or two of cloth clinging to him, cemented on with both wet and dry blood and mud. Parts of his body that hadn't been covered with cloth, such as his feet and face, were still caked with mud, dead leaves, and other such debris.  
Where the cloth had fully been removed, the semi clean skin underneath had a sickly yellowish pallor to it, nothing close to the green it should have been. Festering sores dotted Raph's legs, either pressure sores or wounds that had never been cleaned nor wrapped.  
Donatello sighed, feeling a bit sorry for his brother, but he shook it off, telling himself that Raph had brought this on himself, which he had.  
Donnie cautiously lifted up the eye-patch that covered Raph's right eye, and was greeted by a sickening sight. Gook, yellowed gauze, and bloody tissues were stuffed into a hole that Raph's eye once occupied. Don shuttered at the thought that he was going to have to clean that out. However, he knew it was the only way to avoid infection.  
"Don?" Donatello, startled at the intrusion, let go of the eye-patch and it went back into place with a snap. Mike was standing in the doorway, looking visibly relieved. "Jeez, with the mess out there, I thought we had been ambushed." Mike paused, seeing the mess of a turtle who lay in the tub for the first time. "Oh my god! What is that, Don? We haven't been attacked, have we?"  
"No... Not yet at least, Mikey." Don said, "This is.... _Raph_."  
Mike blinked, taken aback. Raph hadn't looked _that_ bad the last time Mike had seen him, which had only been a day or so ago. But, then again, Mike had only gotten a glance in the dark at his brother then. Moreover, Raph hadn't exactly looked in the best of health even then. Mike sighed and knelt down, taking a washcloth and aiding Don to try and clean their helpless brother.  
  


***

  
  
Mike sat in the armchair, thumbing through a magazine. He paused a moment and looked at Raph. His brother lay sprawled on the couch. Raphael had awoken after Don and him had washed up and were dressing his wounds. He had seemed semi-coherent but still pretty out of it. Mike was pretty sure it was the blood loss that had made him so light headed. As soon as he had gotten to the couch, Raph had fallen asleep again.  
Mike sighed and set the magazine on the coffee table. Picking up a blanket that laid by the couch, Mikey covered his brother up, tucking the blanket under Raph's scarred carapace. Mike sighed again as he sat back down and stared at his oblivious sibling.  
Raphael looked like a mummy with all the gauze and bandaging tape they had on him. Mike was surprised at how lean his brother had become. Raph had always been the heftiest of them all, with full shoulders and a strong solid figure, but this Raph... he seemed to barely fill his shell. His arms had no thickness to them, just thin muscle and bone, and his shoulders had lost their fullness. Malnutrition had taken its toll on the body. Not only stripping Raph of his mass, but of his skin color as well. There was something disturbing about the yellowish pallor of Raph's skin in many places. It made Mike's stomach churn to look at it. It seemed that he had truly lost Raphael. This ... _thing_ that had lurched back into their lives could not be his brother, could it? The very idea that Raphael, the strongest of his brothers, could be reduced to _this_... frankly, it scared Mike.  
"Mike?" Venus stood at the door to the upstairs. She closed it quietly and then came over into the living room. "I thought I heard something down here earlier." Venus paused as she approached the couch. "Don?" she said, concern etched on her face.  
Mike smiled. It was dark in here, and they _did_ look alike... "No. Raph."  
"Oh..." Venus paused, unsure on what to say, "He came back."  
"That he did." Mike countered.  
"Whatcha doing down here?"  
"Don's on patrol. I'm keeping an eye on the mummy over there." Mike smiled and grabbed Meih by the arm and pulled her down into his lap.  
"Hey!" she said, looking at him, "I thought you were supposed to be watching your buddy there, buster."  
"The only thing I wanna watch right now is you." Mike smiled at his wife, "And anyway, I gots good hearing. I'll hear anything he does before I see it anyway."  
Venus laughed and put her arms around Mike's neck. She leaned into him and met his lips in a kiss. Mike smiled against her mouth and returned the kiss with a fervor, running his hand up to her neck.  
"BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT" The alarm sounded, startling Mike and Venus out of their embrace. Mike stood up quickly, and Meih Pei Chi fell to the floor with a thunk.  
Quickly Venus recovered though, and stood up, fear in her eyes. In the time that they had been here, Donatello had taught them enough to distinguish between the different alarms. This one meant the actual farmhouse had been broken into!  
"I'm going to go check outside, Meih. You stay here." Mike snapped anxiously, his family's safety was first priority. He snarled as another alarm was heard sounding. This one meant the outer perimeter was down, The barbed wire was of no use without a complete circuit. They were wide open to intruders. Also, they _had_ intruders. In other words, they were in deep shit.  
"Oh my God!" Venus said, realizing something "Tyler!" She scrambled for the stairs and was up them in a blink of an eye before Mike could stop her.  
"Shit." Mike said, turning to follow her. Suddenly he heard a crashing noise behind him. Two men dressed in ninja garb came in, crashing down the front door. Mike snarled and swung his chucks, creating two menacing blurs around his hands. If they thought two ninja were enough to stop him, they were _sadly_ mistaken, especially if he was defending his family.  
"Bring it on." he hissed low. The two ninjas attacked at once. Mike dodged the left one's sloppy and pitifully slow attack. The right one got twenty pounds of chuck slammed painfully right in the gullet, and doubled over in agony like a paper ribbon. Mike left righty writhing on the floor in anguish and turned his attention to the other one.  
This one was armed with a kusari-fundo, but it was painfully obvious that he hadn't the faintest idea how to use it. One couldn't say he didn't try though. He hurled the chained weapon towards Michaelangelo. This turned out to be a very ignorant move. Catching the spinning weighted chain in one hand, Mike smirked sardonically. "You seem to need some lessons on how to use this. Let me teach you." Using the ninja's own weapon, he lashed the kusari-fundo out towards his opponent's head, and smashed him senseless with the weighted end. The ninja fell to the ground next to his squirming partner, out like a light. Michaelangelo took the opportunity to put righty out of his misery by smashing him in the noggin just hard enough to knock him out.  
Mike smiled at a job well done for a second before turning to run up the stairs to check on Venus. A sound behind him stopped the turtle dead in his tracks. _'More ninja?'_ Mike thought to himself. He whirled around, chucks at the ready. "I really don't have time for this, but if you want a fight, let's dance!"  
"I don't wanna fight, Mike." Don surprised him, being the one whom he had heard. "We gotta get out of here. _Now_!"  
"What about Ve-"  
"I got her! Now let's get Raph and get out of here before their reinforcements show up!!"  
"Damn." Mike jogged over to where Raph lay, stashing his chucks in his belt. Together the two brothers hoisted Raphael between them and headed out the door to the waiting van.  
  


Chapter 6 coming soon (i hope!)  



End file.
